By Jennifer Eisenbart
Staff writer
If the Town of Burlington annual meeting is supposed to be an exercise in old-fashioned, hands-on democracy, then the two people who showed up for Tuesday’s annual meeting had a leg up on everyone else.
That said, not much has changed from 2010 to 2011 as the Town Board went over its annual report for its audience of two – former Town Chairman and Supervisor Barb Ruud and Phyllis Rice, the wife of current Town Chairman Ralph Rice.
The board reviewed its 2011 expenditures, and came in about $29,800 under budget for the year.
“It’s one of the tightest budgets I’ve worked with throughout the years,” said Chairman Rice.
Among the items that helped the town in its 2011 budget was the transfer of police services to the Racine County Sheriff’s Department, as well as meeting collections for fines for the first time.
There were no real criticisms raised, but Ruud did ask a pair of questions: one, if the town had done the right thing in retaining Chief Mike Sevick as a liaison with the Racine County Sheriff’s Department, and also if town needed five supervisors rather than three.
“We can put some thought into that,” Chairman Rice said about the idea of going from five supervisors to three. Town Administrator Diane Baumeister added that the board can act, but a three-man board could not take effect until Joan Boehm and Jeff Lang came up for re-election in 2013.
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Going to the sheriff was a great move…saves a lot of money year after year, and our former officers are better off as deputies with more and broader opportunities for the career. The city of Burlington should looks at this too
No we should not go backwards and have only 3 people on the board. That is too much power for only 3 people and the township has grown too large for only 3. I know some land has been taken over by the city but the people have grown.